Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps

AshfordLad said:
Not up to speed with the club news are ya old fella. He has refused several offers of a renewal and is holding out for an unrealistic contract. I hope the club doesn't renew and sign an up-n-comer like city signed Ederson.
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He's one of the two best young keepers in the world. He's not replaceable. As for an 'unrealistic contract' what it that exactly? That a guy who the club valued at 70-100m actually wants to be paid as such?
 
Pogbasky said:
Had it been Lukaku that had such a poor game against Liverpool and had missed two clear chances like Morata did yesterday we would not have heard the end of it from the anti Lukaku brigade here
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A Man United player being more scrutinised by Man United fans on a Man United forum? What a shocker.
 
Kentonio said:
He's one of the two best young keepers in the world. He's not replaceable. As for an 'unrealistic contract' what it that exactly? That a guy who the club valued at 70-100m actually wants to be paid as such?
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No he isn't as good and no one would pay £100m for him. It would be lucky if the club got £25m for him, I say take that money and spend on someone who is better or in the very least someone of similar quality but more committed.
 
Everytime we drop points Matic is brought up, it's getting beyond tedious. No doubt if Willian goes United history will get rewrote with him aswell.
 
AshfordLad said:
No he isn't as good and no one would pay £100m for him. It would be lucky if the club got £25m for him, I say take that money and spend on someone who is better or in the very least someone of similar quality but more committed.
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You're deeply mistaken. The only comparable young player to Courtois is De Gea.
 
Kentonio said:
You're deeply mistaken. The only comparable young player to Courtois is De Gea.
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Disagree. Oblak and Ederson are better as well. And there might be quite a few more that we don't even know of like no one knew of Ederson before City picked him up.
 
duffer said:
A Man United player being more scrutinised by Man United fans on a Man United forum? What a shocker.
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One thing to scrutinize, quite another to make it seem as if Morata, Kane et al walk on water while Lukaku is a donkey. Yet his stats from the past 3 seasons are pretty the same as those of Kane, while he's done better than Morata
 
UsualSuspect said:
Indeed. I called it before the announcement. Drinkwater has been solid since coming back from injury so it makes sense.
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It wasn't a dig at Drinkwater, just figured if we were set out to defend and counter you'd need Fabregas in there to make it work. His passing once he came on showed a real difference. If that long ball over the top to Drinkwater is coming from Fab instead of Kante, Drinkwater puts us in the lead. It ended up being Bakayoko who needed to be benched instead.

KM said:
Anyway he'll be benched by RLC in the next season after all. Pretty jealous that Chelsea'll have Zouma, RLC in their first XI next season.
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I'm not sure he'll be benched by RLC, different type of players.

haram said:
I dont think Conte rates Zouma anyway. He has Christensen and Rudiger now.
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Conte has been trying to only have 1 defender who's limited on the ball, currently occupied by Cahill. Zouma needed game time after his injury regardless. It's a shame David Luiz has seemingly fallen out with Conte because I still believe our best back 3 is Luiz-Christensen-Azpilicueta. If we we were to somehow convince Juventus that Sandro is fraud and we're able to buy him in January, that's the best defense in the league.
 
Chelsea have gone under the radar recently, and they have an easy run of fixtures coming up. They don't play Arsenal until the 3rd of January.

Atletico (H) Champions League
West Ham (A)
Huddersfield (A)
Southampton (H)
Bournemouth (H) League Cup
Everton (A)
Brighton (H)
Stoke (H)
Arsenal (A)

We're preoccupied with chasing City, but they have to like their chances of leapfrogging us if we slip at all during the Xmas season.
 
So we play Leicester twice before we play Burnley for the first time?
I didn't think that was possible and here I am a 33 yo man lol
 
I don't think anybody can take any fixture for granted. Palace beat us when they were bottom of the league and playing poorly, so we can't overlook any team tbh. Just because you outclass a team one week, doesn't mean it will happen the next. I think we need to focus on Newcastle, as if we look past them then they're capable of causing the upset. We are talking about a team of 11 players, not just one person like in a solo sport who only relies on themselves to win. It only takes a couple players being off par for the whole team to look below par.
 
The squad has adjusted well to the 352 system. However, the left WB position is still very vulnerable and opposing teams are targeting Alonso. An upgrade is urgently needed and I would take Ryan Bertrand in January as Sandro won’t be available until next summer.
 
Still feel we need to seriously upgrade our wing back positions. Moses is probably our best wing back and he's not exactly elite

Alonso is good but he struggles against fast wingers and isn't potent enough going forward due to lack of pace and Zappacosta is backup at best

I still hold out hope for Alex Sandro but Ghoulam would be another option
 
CechMate1 said:
Still feel we need to seriously upgrade our wing back positions. Moses is probably our best wing back and he's not exactly elite

Alonso is good but he struggles against fast wingers and isn't potent enough going forward due to lack of pace and Zappacosta is backup at best

I still hold out hope for Alex Sandro but Ghoulam would be another option
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Ghoulam is injured and will remain so for months. Sandro will be bought by PSG or Man Utd next summer. I fully expect another mediocre last minute purchase ala Zappacosta to be bought for the left wing back position. Or maybe no purchase whatsoever as Conte will depart for another club who is more willing to spend on big transfers.
 
CechMate1 said:
Still feel we need to seriously upgrade our wing back positions. Moses is probably our best wing back and he's not exactly elite

Alonso is good but he struggles against fast wingers and isn't potent enough going forward due to lack of pace and Zappacosta is backup at best

I still hold out hope for Alex Sandro but Ghoulam would be another option
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Ryan Sessegnon at LWB?
 
singabiru said:
Ghoulam is injured and will remain so for months. Sandro will be bought by PSG or Man Utd next summer. I fully expect another mediocre last minute purchase ala Zappacosta to be bought for the left wing back position. Or maybe no purchase whatsoever as Conte will depart for another club who is more willing to spend on big transfers.
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I think we will get Sandro, its not like we didn't try this summer and now he is definitely leaving I think we will get him in January or summer.
 
singabiru said:
Ghoulam is injured and will remain so for months. Sandro will be bought by PSG or Man Utd next summer. I fully expect another mediocre last minute purchase ala Zappacosta to be bought for the left wing back position. Or maybe no purchase whatsoever as Conte will depart for another club who is more willing to spend on big transfers.
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Conte will leave because we aren't willing to spend big on transfers? You do realise that we've spent 300 million on new players since Conte arrived? Also breaking our transfer record on Morata? In just two seasons?

We was offering up to 60 million for Sandro in the Summer, that's an insane amount for a wing back. Stop being so spoilt
 
Don _ Conte said:
I think we will get Sandro, its not like we didn't try this summer and now he is definitely leaving I think we will get him in January or summer.
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Matt Law who is generally quite reliable when it comes to Chelsea is reporting that Sandro has asked to leave Juventus. He was promised a new contract and pay rise which hasn't happened and could potentially force through a move to Chelsea if required
 
CechMate1 said:
Conte will leave because we aren't willing to spend big on transfers? You do realise that we've spent 300 million on new players since Conte arrived? Also breaking our transfer record on Morata? In just two seasons?

We was offering up to 60 million for Sandro in the Summer, that's an insane amount for a wing back. Stop being so spoilt
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Our net spend has only been 20-30m pounds since Conte has come. There's certainly a big difference.
 
Alonso looks dead on his feet. Has played almost every match this season with little rest. Its only gonna get worse during this winter period unless we sign a left back in January
 
Theafonis said:
Alonso looks dead on his feet. Has played almost every match this season with little rest. Its only gonna get worse during this winter period unless we sign a left back in January
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Completely agree. Should Kenedy be getting minutes? Put Willian there? Azpilicueta? He was making such an impact last season getting up and down, it's a shame the board/Conte has failed him a bit this season.
 
CechMate1 said:
Conte will leave because we aren't willing to spend big on transfers? You do realise that we've spent 300 million on new players since Conte arrived? Also breaking our transfer record on Morata? In just two seasons?

We was offering up to 60 million for Sandro in the Summer, that's an insane amount for a wing back. Stop being so spoilt
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Look at the NET spend instead of just the spend numbers.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-chelsea/transfers/verein/631/saison_id/2017

For this summer, it's a paltry 3 MILLION POUND net spend. Chelsea is in the Spurs/ Levy territory when it comes to spending on players.

Look at the gaps that need to be plugged and upgraded in the squad.
 
They're 1 wingback, 1 CM and 1 forward short of being able to compete on all fronts IMO.
 
Pete Dahh Sneak said:
Our net spend has only been 20-30m pounds since Conte has come. There's certainly a big difference.
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Split over two seasons, that's akin to what a bottom half EPL team spends instead of a club with ambitions to retain titles and challenge in Europe.

This is financial prudence taken to extremes since the club can afford to spend much more than that. Unless the Board wants most of the money to go fund the stadium project instead which is a dangerous thing to do when the squad needs an injection of additional quality and Conte won't stand for another summer of austerity.

It is testament to Conte's ability to drive the team and squad to still do well this season despite being hampered by gaps in the squad (Matic sold, no second LWB, buying a sub-par RWB in Zappacosta, etc) and he will be sorely missed when he leaves next summer.
 
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
 
Pete Dahh Sneak said:
Completely agree. Should Kenedy be getting minutes? Put Willian there? Azpilicueta? He was making such an impact last season getting up and down, it's a shame the board/Conte has failed him a bit this season.
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None of the above names will fit adequately for Alonso.

Forget about any winter signings. I don't see the Board sanctioning any except for outgoing ones like David Luiz.

I expect some mediocre Zappacosta like signing to be made next summer for LWB as there's no way Sandro will be bought when PSG and Man Utd comes calling for him.
Thunderhead said:
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
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He's basically gone from the club. Will be sold next summer.
 
Thunderhead said:
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
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He’s a lovable guy but he’s completely awful as a striker. He’ll probably sign for a big clu in the future and it will be used as a stick to beat with us similar to Salah and De Bruyne did, but oh well. I wouldn’t care too much if he was sold.

He’s only 23. I think he’ll go to Germany, become a solid player and sign for a tier-2 club. He has all the tools to become a top player, just needs to find a way to show that.
 
Thunderhead said:
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
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Maybe because he has been injured in recent weeks and needs to get match fitness ASAP given the busy schedule this December.
 
Thunderhead said:
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
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He is recovering from a reasonably long injury layoff. Nothing to see here.
 
Thunderhead said:
Batschuayi has scored in the checkatrade trophy, £32m quid and he's playing in an u23 game that was designed to give torn players a bit of senior football
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He's been injured and that was because he hasn't had any minutes due to that...
 
Bad domestic record after European games:

UCL: Chelsea 6:0 Qarabag
PRL: Chelsea 0:0 Arsenal

UCL: Atletico 1:2 Chelsea
PRL: Chelsea 0:1 Man City

UCL: Chelsea 3:3 Roma
PRL: Chelsea 4:2 Watford (2:1 down until 71st minute and needed 2 late goals to win)

UCL: Roma 3:0 Chelsea
PRL: Chelsea 1:0 Man Utd

UCL: Qarabag 0:4 Chelsea
PRL: Liverpool 1:1 Chelsea

UCL: Chelsea 1:1 Atletico Madrid
PRL: West Ham 1:0 Chelsea

Total: 8/18

Man City: 15/15
Spurs: 11/15
Arsenal: 10/15
Man Utd: 9/15
Liverpool: 6/15
 
Their transferwindow was quite negligent. Instead of adding depth they've merely replaced outgoing players.
 
The Bloody-Nine said:
To be fair that's Arsenal, City, us and Liverpool.
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Yeah but our record wasn't great last season either. Plus if Arsenal and us win tomorrow, 13/12 points from 18 is decent.
 
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